Lee County-Second-Largest Drop in Population in FL (Cape Coral, Cleveland: foreclose, to rent)

[121804]

Originally Posted by kroeran

I find the heat sometimes uncomfortable, but never depressing, like the grey skys of the north most of the year....let alone 40 below

Insurance is not an issue if you go inland a bit, ie. near the 75?

I think there will always be a lot of risk in Florida real estate, and if you are going to play things close to the edge, exploit the cheap rental market and find the discipline to put your savings in government guaranteed CDs, especially until things really stabilize.

What is going to happen to Florida real estate when the boomers start dying off in 20 years?

SWFL will always attract a very specific type of retiree and snowbird. Always has. Always will. And that is what the area will always be known for...attracting lower to middle class midwestern snowbird/retirees.

20yrs will bring the next wave.

It's not the retirement destination for all of America, but it is for a specific type, so nothing is going to happen in that regards.

[JohnVosilla]

Originally Posted by 121804

SWFL will always attract a very specific type of retiree and snowbird. Always has. Always will. And that is what the area will always be known for...attracting lower to middle class midwestern snowbird/retirees.

20yrs will bring the next wave.

It's not the retirement destination for all of America, but it is for a specific type, so nothing is going to happen in that regards.

Exactly. Many miss that rapidly changing SE Florida is not an option for many in that demographic as it was say 25-30 years ago. Also many folks want it to be 75 and sunny in the middle of winter with comfortable beach weather,something that is rare in Dec-Jan further north in Florida. There is really one option.

[hiknapster]

Originally Posted by JohnVosilla

Exactly. Many miss that rapidly changing SE Florida is not an option for many in that demographic as it was say 25-30 years ago. Also many folks want it to be 75 and sunny in the middle of winter with comfortable beach weather,something that is rare in Dec-Jan further north in Florida. There is really one option.

There are other options but it is a different social demographic that chooses those other places to retire.

Not there's anything wrong with that.

[kernal_panic]

This will likely be my only post on this forum. I'm not into real estate although I did work at land developer for 6 years.

I am from Lee County. I grew up in Cape Coral and lived the last 10 years in North Fort Myers. I left the area a week and half ago.

This will be an ugly rant.

I lived in Lee County for 32 years.

Its toast. The morons who run the county, the good ol boy network who is in the pockets of the developers and the idiots who moved there in that last 10-15 years have wrecked it.

There was absolutely zero growth control over the last 10 years. NONE. Portions of Cape Coral and Lehigh that shouldn't have been built up for another 20 years had low quality mexican/quatamlen built houses of low to questionable quality thrown up and sold at 2-3 times their real value.

While this corrupt orgy of building and defrauding was going on,our useless county commissioners and "economic development" council couldn't bothered to try to develop any industry what so ever. Lee co's entire economy is based on construction and idiots moving there with a little bit of tourism thrown in.

any of you who think that market is rebounding or is in rebound are smoking crack. Yeah houses are moving, but they are ALL short sales and foreclosures and new ones coming on to the market are also foreclosures.

this is the reality of the market. My freinds son is buying a condo for $52k on a short sale. it was originally $184k.

the population of lee county is dropping. the fed.gov's fraudulent un employment numbers puts Lee at 13.2 percent last time i looked. the real number is about 22%. You see all those mexicans and quats who were in construction left. The working class neighborhood I lived in until last week has been emptying out.

to those of you still there: good luck keeping your job!

[twobums]

Hey kernal! I recognize you from another forum...good post! THX for the insight from someone who actually lived in Cape Coral.

[jim09091]

Originally Posted by kernal_panic

to those of you still there: good luck keeping your job!

Not a problem, business is great.

I can't blame you for leaving the north end of the county... I sometimes wish that South Fort Myers south to the Collier border could become its own county.

I'm hoping for a 20% population drop... I know I'm dreaming but I think it would be great. Goodbye people who can't hack it!

[nhkev]

[quote=kernal_panic;10895893]
any of you who think that market is rebounding or is in rebound are smoking crack. Yeah houses are moving, but they are ALL short sales and foreclosures and new ones coming on to the market are also foreclosures.

It's too bad you say it's going to be your only post. Your statement is so packed with knowledge. I guess I should ignore the 14 months of virtually 100% increase in sales volume, 6 months of median house price increases, the decreases in foreclosures, the huge decreases in inventories over the last year. And for all the nay sayers that constantly question me on the foreclosure decreasing here is the latest data.
New foreclosure filings dip in August in Lee County » Naples Daily News

[thebigr]

Originally Posted by kernal_panic

This will likely be my only post on this forum. I'm not into real estate although I did work at land developer for 6 years.

I am from Lee County. I grew up in Cape Coral and lived the last 10 years in North Fort Myers. I left the area a week and half ago.

This will be an ugly rant.

I lived in Lee County for 32 years.

Its toast. The morons who run the county, the good ol boy network who is in the pockets of the developers and the idiots who moved there in that last 10-15 years have wrecked it.

There was absolutely zero growth control over the last 10 years. NONE. Portions of Cape Coral and Lehigh that shouldn't have been built up for another 20 years had low quality mexican/quatamlen built houses of low to questionable quality thrown up and sold at 2-3 times their real value.

While this corrupt orgy of building and defrauding was going on,our useless county commissioners and "economic development" council couldn't bothered to try to develop any industry what so ever. Lee co's entire economy is based on construction and idiots moving there with a little bit of tourism thrown in.

any of you who think that market is rebounding or is in rebound are smoking crack. Yeah houses are moving, but they are ALL short sales and foreclosures and new ones coming on to the market are also foreclosures.

this is the reality of the market. My freinds son is buying a condo for $52k on a short sale. it was originally $184k.

the population of lee county is dropping. the fed.gov's fraudulent un employment numbers puts Lee at 13.2 percent last time i looked. the real number is about 22%. You see all those mexicans and quats who were in construction left. The working class neighborhood I lived in until last week has been emptying out.

to those of you still there: good luck keeping your job!

It sure is good this will be your only post. We already have enough people like you with that great attitude you have in this forum. Good luck where ever you end up and remember, Think positive and you will have positive results.

[mrcoolmrcool28]

Great post! I'm going to miss his insight Mr.Cool

[firemed]

I'm from Lee County and have been here all my life, I have been talking about this for 4 years now and some of you know what I'm talking about.The problem with cape coral is simple. The city started out as a retirement community, the economy in the area was based on servicing the retirees. The politicians, who seem to be failed electrical contractors and lawyers, started to realize big money was to be made by buying large parcels of land and re-zoning it. The city council, who seem to all be involved in big real estate started concentrating solely on developement with no regard for the infrastructure. For a few years money was rolling in, and the city was annexing anything they could to achieve the status of being the largest city in Florida. Now what wer'e stuck with is a huge city that has no infrastructure. Instead of luring big business and giving tax breaks to existing businesses, the city is losing jobs at a massive rate. Cape Coral does not have major industrial, or enough jobs to support the population. The city has no seaport, major railways, or public transit. The large developers that came into the area brought thier own personel, with the exception of some sub-contractors and laborers, and when they left they took the money with them. So anyone that thinks that the city will recover by luring investors to buy up houses for pennies on the dollar needs to realize someone has to live in that home to make it profitable. With no jobs, and a tax increase of 80%, we're losing the retirees and the young families. Unfortunately the whole population can't work for government, or be consultants for the city. Economics has basic principles, all you have to do is apply them. The only thing right now that could help the city is to bring jobs to the area. People know this and move away from what they thought was going to be thier paradise. So don't be surprised when we see the numbers grow even higher as people look for jobs.